Hanging scaffold.



C. M. HAYNVES.

HANGING SGAFFOLD.

APPLICATION FILED Dnc. 24, 1909.

1,031,646. Patented July 2, 1912. [s v l -\v msm? MKM w :y @mann STATESN PATENTY onirica..

CHARLES M. HAYNEs, QENEWARK, NEW JERSEY, AssreNon or ONE-HALE 'ro JOHN o'NEIL, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

HANGING SCAFFOLD.

To all4 w/ wm t may concern.'

Be'` it known that I, CHARLES M. HAYNES,

d a citizen-.of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county klof Essex and State ofNew Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements'in Hanging Scaffolds, of which the following is a specificationf. 1

'lllris' `.invention relates to hanging scaffoldsthe primary object Aof the invention being to provide a device of'this character having simple and effective means for raising and lowering the same.

'The device possesses .other features irnpro'vement' and' advantage which with that already 'mentioned will'be fully set forth in f; the vfollowing'description where I outline in detailthat form of'` embodiment of .the invention lwhich I have selected for illustration in the drawings accompanyingand forming part of the present specification. I

do .not restrict myself to the disclosure made by-said drawings and description 'for I may depart from said disclosure in divers ways within"thefsco'peof the fclaimrsucceeding said :description the latter and the drawings 'being provided'so that those skilled'in the building and allied arts can practise the invention.

Referring to said drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of the scaffold withaja fpart. of the framework removed.

j of fact it is conceivable lthat I might erninafter appear, anism therefor carried thereby, said mech'- ploy a scaffold whereinthere is only one foot-lock o r base member 2 and in connection with the same I employ as will hereraising and lowering mech'- specmcatio-of Letters raten. Application led December 24, 1909. Serial No. 534,786.

refer to like parts -Iatented July 2, 1912.

anism being `of such nature that bothends Iof the foot-lock or base member can be raised or lowered together an equal extent although, as will alsohereinafter appear, I.

prefer to provide means for insurin the leveling of said foot-lock after an a justment of the same.

The foot-lock or-'base member is shown as including two side and parallel bars 3 :and 4 generally made of angle iron connected at one end by a plate 5 and straddled at the other by a. yoke or approximately U-shaped membern, the said plate and yoke being suitably rigidly connected with the sides 3 and 4 as by means of rivets. In the ypresent instance the scaffold is formed in part of several of these foot-locks orbase members 2, although only one is shown, and in practice I layl vupon' the. horizontallyalined foot-locks, planks, boards or other supporting means so' that workmen can pass from one foot-lock onto another by means of the bridging planks or boards. The footrlock or base member 2 is flexibly suspended from an overhead Outrigger, generally consisting of a beam or girder, which in some 'cases will extend out over the upper portion of a building in course of erection while in others the support for the -said foot-lock may be within thebuilding. As a means for supporting the foot-loot. 2, I have shown a beam or girder 7 while an adjacent and parallel girder will similarly support the next adjacent foot-lock neither of which latter, however, is illustrated.

As a suitable means for flexibly suspending the foot-lock 2, I may provide a pair of cables as 8 and 9 and I use the terni cables in its broad sense to include thereby equivalent devices such as ropes or chains, a suitable device being connected to one of the cables, for instance the. cable 8,

as will hereinafter appear, for accurately leveling the said foot-lock. Under ordinary circumstances the two4 cables will raise and' v cated member 11 and hence the cable 8 with rest on the sides 3 and 4 and being connected `about an axis disposed transversely of the "platform supporting member 2. Said cable .underll the foot-lock 2 and around a second will be had to the leveling means to secure the desired object. Any suitable leveling means may lbe provided and of course the same may be situated, at any desirable place but that indicatedV is advantageous. It is possible also that I could dispense altogether with said leveling means. l

To the upper end of the cable 8 a turnbuckle 10 is connected and to the upper section of said turn-buckle a yoke 11 is united the branches of said yoke being perforated to receive a bolt 12 which projects through an opening in the web of the-beam or girder 7., the bolt providing a simple means for detachably connecting the yoke or bifuri ,the girder or beam 7 near one end thereof. The cable 9 has a yoke or bifurcated member 13 practically a duplicate of the part 11, connected to its upper end and detachably connected to thegirder or Outrigger by a bolt 14. The inner or lower endsl of the two cables are connected with the footlock 2, the ylatter being provided with suitable reel mechanism to receive said rcables, as will hereinafter appear.

On the sides of the foot-pieces 2 are fastened brackets 15 which are shown as fastened to the lateral branches of the yoke 6, which constitute in effect parts of said sides and these brackets have offset portions to removably receive the lower end portions of .the sides of the substantially inverted. U- shaped frame or standard 16, said sides being bent inward near their lower ends to at their lower ends by a tie bolt 17 by removing which said frame or standard 16 can be lifted from place.

There is shown as supportedfor rotation by the sides of said standard or upright 16, a shaft 18 and to said shaft are fixed the spools or drums 19 and 2O which constitute in effect a sectional reel; that is to say these two spools or drums turn as one on the rotation ofthe shaft 18 either to wind the cables 8 and 9 respectively thereon or to pay off the same so as to raise or lower the footlocker base member 2. l

The cable 8 below the outrigger or beam T passes around a roller or guide-sheave 21 loose on-the shaft 22 which is supported by the sides 3 and 4 and which may as shown consist of a tie-bolt, said shaft being'situated in vertical alinement with the place of suspension of said cable 8. The plate 5 is slotted for the passage of said cable 8 and also for the turning of said guide-sheave 21. In the present instance said sectional reel made up of said spools or drums 19 and 20 rotates aften it leaves the guide-sheave 21 extends guidesheave or roller 23 loose on the shaft 24 and then to and around the Adrum lor spool 19.

The cable 9 passes varound the guidesheave or roller 25 also loose on said shaft 24 and is wound around the drum or spoolV 2U. From this it will be clear that when the two drums or spools 19 and 20 are turned to the right they' will simultaneously wind the respective cables 8 and 9 thereon rollers or sheaves 23 and 25, and by the construction described, there are only 'two points of suspe-nsion of the scaffold structure, and these points are virtually in horizontal alinement.

The shaft 18 may be turned in any desirable manner although worm-gearing is' preferable for the purpose in that the same automatically locks itself against retractive movement, and said shaft 18 is shown as havingfastened thereto a worm-gear 26 in mesh with a worm V27 the shaft of which is rotatively supported by a suitable bearing on said upright 1 6 and which fixedly car# ries a pinion 28 in mesh with a spur-gear 29 lthe shaft of which is provided with a removable liand-crank 30. By turning this hand crank the foot-lock 2 may be raised and lowered through the intermediate described mechanism. Said liand-crank being connected with the spur-gear by a chain or equivalentconnection 3l so that there is no possibility of the crank falling onto the ground when not in use. The means described for operating the spools ordrums 19 and 2O is a simple one although other means might be used instead thereof. The axis of rotation of the shaft to which said hand crank 30 is connected is at right angles to the axis of rotation of the two spools 19 and 20, said first mentioned axis eX- tending longitudinally of the platform-supporting member 2. Owing to this construe tion the reel mechanism which is located at one end of said member 2 is adapted to evenly pay off or reel up the several cables or ropes and at the same time the operator can effect the raising or lowering of the said member 2 without bending around the structure or framework 16 which lsustains the reel mechanism and cooperative parts.

As already indicated it is conceivable that I could employ a single foot-lock or base member and the parts already described as associated therewith, as a scaffold the necessary planking yor other means being laid across the sides '3 and 4 although I prefer toemploy several horizontally alined foot# locks and in such a case as this prefer to employ a guard rail which4 extends between adjacent fdot locks and which is referably connected with the standards or rames 16. Such a guard rail is 'shown comprising several intermediate strips or rods as 32 adjustably connected so that the guard rail can be lengthened or shortened as may be demanded. As a suitable means for connecting these strips or rods pin and 1ongitudinal slot means may be provided the overlapping portions of said strips having longitudinal slots to slidingly 'receive binding screws 33 which present a convenient means for maintaining the longitudinal adjustment of said guard-rail. In addition to said intermediate strips A33, the guard rail has terminal and substantially L-shaped strips 84:, the vertical branches or arms of which have open slots or forked portions to removably fit bolts or other suitable means on the sides of the standards 16 of which only one is shown. From this it will be evident that the guard rail can be removably clamped to said standards.

In use the foot-lock 2 is progressively elevated by turning the spools 19 and 20 in the manner above described and when said foot-lock has been raised to the maximum extent it will be suspended by two relieving cables as 35 connected with and hanging from'the Outrigger 7 said cables 35 having hooks at their lower ends to engage the opposite ends of the foot-lock 2. When the foot-lock 2 is supported by these two relieving cables 35 the yokes 11 and 13 will be disconnected from the Outrigger 7 and connected with ak previously placed Outrigger located above that shown. When the cables 8 and 9 are connected with the upper outrigger the relieving or auxiliary cables 35 will be disconnected from the foot-lock or base member 2 and the Outrigger 7 will be dismounted at which time the foot lock/can be elevated as before.

In winding the cables 8 and 9 on the drums or spools 19 and 20 the coils may be laid unevenly thereon which is natural and in this case it might happen that one end of the foot-lock would be higher than the other, the difference in any event, however, being very slight. To accurately level the foot lock recourse will be had to the turnbuckle 10 by manipulating which the footlock can be quickly leveled.

I do not restrict the use of the device to any particular connection although it is of particular advantage during the construction of buildings the mason work of which is built around a skeleton structure and in such ay use as this I of course employ several foot-locks such as that hereinbefore described. In putting up a building of the kind mentioned it is usual to erect from four to six stories of the' skeleton steel structure before the mason Work commences and in such a case the outriggers are set at the top story 'of the said steel structure andY from which the several foot-locks can be hung; said foot-locks being elevated step by step as the masonry progresses. When the outriggers are reached the skeleton work will have been further built up so as to provide a support for a second series of outriggers and to which the said foot-locks can be connected by the hoisting cables as distinguished from the relieving cables, the latter being employed simply to uphold the foot-locks while the hoisting'cables are being disconnected from a lower set of outriggers and transferred to a higher set thereof, and during this operation the men on the scaffold can continue their work. When the suspending cables are disconnected from a lower and connected with a higher set of outrig ers, the lower outriggers can be remove Each foot-lock has its individual hoisting mechanism' and in ,View of this condition I can make the same comparatively light and the same applies also to the outriggers. I have referred to a guard-rail. Thisdevice provides a means of safety for the workmen and it also acts as a brace between adjacent foot-locks and owing to its adjustability the interval between the foot-locks can be regulated without impairing the eiect of said guard-rail.

I wish in closing to make it clear that I do not limit myself to the construction hereinbefore described as many variations may be made within the scope-of my invention as expressed in the claim thereto.

Inconnection with the reel mechanism I provide means for preventing the foot-lock from toppling over and said means preferably coperates with the cable 9, said cable being shown as passed through an eye or perforation in the bracket 16 extending outward from the standard or frame 16. The cable 9 is threaded through said eye or perforation and when the foot lock is suspended it will not be possible owing to the presence of said means, for the foot-lock to topple over.

What I claim is:

A. hanging scaffold comprising a platform supporting member, a transversely extending shaft supported approximately at one end of said platform supporting member, a pair of guide sheaves loosely supported by said shaft for independent rotation thereon, a single sheave rotatively carried by said platform supporting member approximately at the other end thereof and rotative about an axis substantially in the same horizontal plane as the axes of said pair of sheaves, a pair of rigidly connected reels supported over saidl pair of sheaves and the axes of motion of which are substantially in parallelism with the axes of motion of said sheaves, the two reels being separated from each other by a flange or head cwmmon rto the two, gearing connected to one of the reels for rotating, said reels, and a pair of suspending cables for said platformy supporting member, one cable passing under said single sheave, also under and around one of said pair of sheaves and also around one of said reels, the other cable passing around the other of said pair of sheaves and also around the 10 CHARLES M. HAYNES.

Witnesses KATHERINE A. WHELAN, SAMUEL P. WATSON. 

